animal studies Flashcards
What was Lorenz’s experiment?
Lorenz divided goose eggs into two batches. One batch was hatched naturally by the mother and the second batch were placed in an incubator, with Lorenz making sure he was the first large moving object that the goslings saw after hatching.
What did Lorenz find in his experiment?
Lorenz found that straight after birth the naturally hatched goslings followed the mother goose, whereas the incubator-hatched goslings followed Lorenz. Lorenz noted that this imprinting only occurred within a critical period of 4-25 hours after hatching and the relationship persisted over time and proved to be irreversible.
Why can’t we generalize Lorenz’s results to humans?
Since Lorenz only studied animals, we cannot generalize the results to humans as we are unable to conclude that they would behave in the same way. The attachment formation in mammals appears to be very different to that of bird species.
What did Guiton et al. find in their study on chickens?
Guiton et al. found that chickens would imprint on yellow washing up gloves if that was the largest moving object they first saw after birth. Later, they would then try to mate with that object in adulthood. However, they disagreed with Lorenz’s predictions that this relationship persists and is irreversible.
What did Harlow’s study on rhesus monkeys show?
Harlow investigated attachment behavior in rhesus monkeys. He constructed two surrogate mothers: one harsh ‘wire mother’ and a second soft ‘towelling mother’. The amount of time that the baby monkey spent with each mother was recorded. Findings showed that the baby monkeys preferred to make contact with the soft ‘towelling mother’ and the monkeys would even stretch across to the ‘wire mother’ for food whilst still clinging onto the ‘towelling mother’. Harlow concluded that baby rhesus monkeys have an innate drive to seek contact comfort suggesting that attachment with parents is formed through an emotional need for security.
What are some practical applications of Harlow’s research?
The results from Harlow’s study are of large practical value since they provide insight into attachment formation which has important real-world applications that can be useful in a range of practical situations. For example, the knowledge gained from Harlow’s research has helped social workers to understand risk factors in neglect and abuse cases with human children who can then serve to prevent it occurring or, at the very least, recognise when to intervene.
What was the main criticism of Harlow’s research?
Harlow was heavily criticized for the ethics of his research on animals. The baby rhesus monkeys suffered greatly in terms of emotional separation from their biological mother at such an early age due to the procedure Harlow used. If the species of primates are considered sufficiently human-like to generalize the results, then it stands to reason that the effects of psychological harm that they will have endured are similar to that of a human baby. There is, however, the question of whether the insight obtained was sufficiently important to psychologists’ understanding of attachment that Harlow was justified in his approach.
